Who Is Fighting For The Tax Payers?

Within the Department of Defense, there is a small but crucial group which stands post on a vital front in our Nation’s Long War against Terrorism. They are called by different names, Comptrollers, Controllers, Financial Managers or Resource Managers, but they all perform the same critical functions; building budgets, defending requirements, executing programs and most importantly, ensuring good stewardship of our nations trust and treasury. We often forget that just because this group isn’t dropping bombs, pulling the trigger or looking the enemy in the eye that they are just as important to our nation’s success as those who are on the front lines.

How is it that the green shade accountants and resource managers are so important in this “long war?” First, one must understand that short wars can be won by sheer military might, but longer, protracted wars are supported and eventually won by a nation’s economic might. This Global War on Terrorism or the more recently coined Long War is no different. Although the Bush administration has failed to acknowledge the need for continued domestic economic strength as a key component in either the National Security Strategy or the Global War on Terrorism Strategy, our enemy has not failed to miss this point.